TFC's Altidore and Bradley have instant Impact in win over Montreal

MONTREAL — The 401 Derby on Saturday night had a bit of everything: Beautiful weather followed by horrid weather and a stoppage in play, a highly charged sellout crowd and a large and very loud contingent of TFC supporters at Saputo Stadium.

And the one thing that Toronto FC had that made the difference in the match against the Montreal Impact was midfield whiz Alejandro Pozuelo, who displayed his usual brilliance on the attack in Toronto’s 2-0 victory over the home side.

Pozuelo scored in the 61st minute, picking up the ball in the middle of the field off a header by Marky Delgado, and then charged toward the goal before right-footing a shot to the left of Montreal keeper Evan Bush. The Spaniard was spectacular on the attack all night, creating numerous scoring chances, four in the first half alone. The Seville native now has eight goals and eight assists in 17 games for the Reds.

TFC forward Jozy Altidore, back from the Gold Cup with the U.S. team, put the icing on the cake for the Reds in added time by scoring via a free kick that snuck just inside the post past Bush. The victory against their Canadian rivals improved to Toronto’s record to 7-8-5. Montreal fell to 9-10-3. It was TFC’s first win on the road since a 2-0 victory in Orlando on May 4.

“This game was big,” said Altidore. “All week we talked about the importance of this game. This is one of those games that can spur on the season. I’ve been itching to get back here, I missed it and to come back in a match like this and score and win, it ticks all the boxes.”

Shortly Pozuelo’s goal, in the 65th minute, the players left the field because of a severe weather and the match was suspended at 9 p.m. and resumed at 9:25. Toronto had gained the momentum just before the suspension in play and sure enough, after play resumed, the momentum switched Montreal’s way. The Impact put together numerous scoring chances when play resumed with Toronto goal keeper Quentin Westberg making a huge diving save on Anthony Jackson-Hamel to preserve the result. Westberg made a number of good saves on the night as the Reds picked up the clean sheet. In the final 15 minutes of regulation time, the Impact buzzed around the Toronto goal, but couldn’t bury the equalizer, missing on a number of clear chances from crosses. The Reds had the chance to put the game away in the 86th minute when Justin Morrow was stopped by Bush and a rebound was also blocked. Bush then blanked Altidore in the 89th minute from point blank range. Those misses almost came back to haunt the Reds as the Impact dialled it up in extra time (six minutes were added).

The Impact out-shot Toronto 17-15 but the Reds held the edge on shots on target 7-4. TFC also dominated possession, 56% to 44%.

New centre back Omar Gonzalez made his debut with the Reds with new forward Patrick Mullins on the bench and was a steady presence on the back line beside Chris Mavinga.

“I thought he was very good,” said Toronto captain Michael Bradley. “His presence in terms of making the guys around him better in a calm, solid, assured way (was big). I thought he and Chris played really well together. For me it’s simple — there aren’t a ton of forwards who are going to enjoy playing against him. It was a great start for him.”

The Reds had as close to a full lineup as they’ve had since the start of the season with the return of U.S. internationals Altidore and Bradley from the Gold Cup and former MLS defender of the year Gonzalez playing his first game for Toronto. Bradley’s generalship at midfield was certainly big in the win.

“We’ve talked a lot in the last few days about this idea over the last 15 games we have to be a team that is improving every game,” said Bradley. “This is a good start for us and now we just got to keep it going. I think we can still get better, we will get better, we’ll get sharper, things will continue to improve.

TFC was without defenders Laurent Ciman (mild MCL strain) and Drew Moor (hamstring) and midfielder Jonathan Osorio (flu-like symptoms). Another new addition, 22-year-old Venezuelan winger Erickson Gallardo, was not in the lineup given that he has had only three days of training with his new club. The Impact was without their its midfielder Ignacio Piatti who is out with a knee injury.

The first half was even, if a big drab, with the Impact controlling the play early and Toronto taking control later. Westberg made a fine save in the eighth minute on Orji Okwonkwo in the right side of the box after a terrible turnover by Mavinga. Okwonkwo had another good chance in the 15th minute just outside the centre of the box, but missed. In the 33rd minute, Montreal’s Samuel Piette launched a shot from outside the box that sailed just over the goal. The first half ended with Toronto conceding a free kick to Montreal just to the right of the box. Saphir Taider’s shot was cleared easily by the Reds.

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